30 Brilliant Bookshelf Decor Ideas to Show Off Your Style

For rare books, first editions, or just your favorite ever book, opt for glass doors to cover certain shelves in order to keep those copies safe and out of reach. In Melissa LaSalle's home, the covered shelves have easily accessible latches for any time you want to reread or admire your collection.

To make your bookshelves a statement, paint the wood the same accent color as the room's trim, as designer Fran Keenan did here in this Alabama home. We also love how she recessed the shelves into their own nook to create a cozy reading corner.

Have more tchotchkes than books? Take a note from Joy Street Design and use empty shelving to your advantage to take a more minimalist approach. Back each shelf with wallpaper to make the blank space feel intentional rather than sparse.

Bookshelves are a great way to keep your most frequently used things within arms reach. In this treehouse-like room by White Space Design Group, journals and games are kept close to the gathering table.

Bookshelves can take up a lot of wall space, which might leave you with more art than you have blank walls. Treat your bookshelf like any normal expanse of wall and hang your beloved art from its cross-sections as M James Design Group did here.

To give a workspace or reading nook cohesion, upholster your floating shelves or cubbies in the same fabric as your seating. We love the contrast between the graphic houndstooth print and butterfly motif in this space designed by Studio Ashby. The stacked floating cubbies achieve great dimension too.

Bookshelf storage is a great way to transform that awkward space under your stairs into something beautiful. Decorated by Regan Baker Design, this one is actually a secret passageway that opens up into a storage closet. Bonus lesson: Bookcases are the perfect decoys for hidden rooms.

Instead of splurging on a shelving unit, simply stack your books in neat pile against the wall. If you stack them close enough to your bed, you can use your books as a makeshift bedside table.

A Peter Rogers portrait of Alex Hitz's close friend the late Nan Kempner hangs in the library of his Los Angeles home. "The room doesn't get a lot of light, so I decided to make it cozy and turned it into an English-style portrait room, which is ridiculous but fun," he says.

Meet the easiest DIY bookshelf ever—this side chair is doubling as a bedside table and a bookshelf. The effortlessness has a charming appeal but it doesn't look sloppy in the slightest.

A custom peacock-blue lacquer by Fine Paints of Europe gives depth and richness to the library of a Chicago townhouse. Designer Steven Gambrel dialed up the color here and throughout the home to compensate for Chicago's long winters.

Have a blank wall and a few extra books with nowhere to go? Install a slim wall shelf to solve both problems in style.

Orange paint (Pratt & Lambert's Orange Spice) sets off the Palladian details of the bookcase in the living room of an Atlanta house. "I wanted that saturated color, as deep as I could get it," designer Kay Douglass says. "It almost becomes an art piece and helps make the room, instead of being just a place to store things. One of the biggest design mistakes people make is cluttering their world with too many things."

If you have a reading nook in your bedroom, keep your books in reach by setting up rows of floating shelves. They bring color and structure to the space while also sprucing up a lackluster corner, as seen in this bedroom designed by Arent & Pyke.

Compact and understated, this vertical shelving unit makes books looks like they're floating on the wall without actually having to pick up a hammer. Oh, and we love the mini chair on the top shelf for a subtle touch of whimsy.

Put a large-scale piece of artwork in between two bookcases in a more formal sitting area, as Studio DB did here. It'll create a nice a sense of symmetry and set the tone for the color scheme.

Get creative with the way you display your books. As seen in this minimalist space, the books are stacked in alternating compositions: one pile laying horizontally and the other vertically. They achieve consistency by facing the page-side outward, though.

In a California cottage designed by Stephen Shubel, mirrors installed along the back of the built-in shelving give the wall depth and make the room feel brighter.

This asymmetrical open-cubby situation designed by 2LG Studio brings some offbeat intrigue to an otherwise empty wall. Fill yours with plants and vases to break things up.